Extract from ABC News
Russia has previously denied using torture against detainees. (Reuters: Sputnik/Alexei Nikolsky/Pool)
In short:
The UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission says Russia is carrying out systemic torture of Ukrainian civilians at over 100 locations across Russia and occupied Ukraine.
The report is based on detailed interviews with 215 former detainees captured since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Russia's Foreign Affairs Ministry did not immediately comment on the 22-page report.
Russia's government has systematically tortured Ukrainian civilians in over 100 detention centres since the start of its invasion, the UN's human right's office says.
Its report detailed cases of mock executions, electric shocks and the use of prolonged stress positions on Ukrainian citizens for non-criminal acts, such as criticising Russia's invasion, which it said had proved fatal in some cases.
It said the centres were located inside Russia and occupied parts of Ukraine.
"It's widespread and systematic torture," UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission head Danielle Bell said.
"It was documented in every region of occupied territory, as well as dozens of regions inside the Russian Federation."
The UN report is based on interviews with 215 former detainees who gave detailed accounts of their captivity since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Russia's diplomatic mission in Geneva referred questions on the report to the Foreign Affairs Ministry which did not immediately provide a comment.
Russian forces control approximately a fifth of Ukraine's territory. (Reuters: Alexander Ermochenko)
It has previously denied using torture or other forms of maltreatment against detainees.
Ukraine says some 15,000 civilians have been detained by Russia since 2022 of whom at least 1,800 remain in detention.
Ms Bell said her office had confirmed at least 400 ongoing detentions, with the real scale probably much greater.
Torture often occurred during initial interrogations but also in daily life where regular beatings occurred and detainees were forced to walk at a bent angle, she said.
"These weren't random incidents, and it would have been unlikely or impossible for those in charge, not to have known that this was taking place," she told reporters from Kyiv.
In some cases, medics in Russian facilities participated in the torture, Bell said, or ignored detainees' calls for help with their torture-inflicted symptoms. Her office has so far confirmed 36 deaths from torture, poor conditions or lack of access to medical care, she added.
UN bodies have previously documented a few cases of ill-treatment by Ukrainian forces of Russian detainees and Kyiv has said it would investigate any violations.
Russia continues advance in Ukraine's east
More than three years since Russia began its invasion of Ukraine, the Kremlin's forces continue to make steady gains.
On Tuesday, local time, Russia said it had claimed a large part of the north-eastern Ukrainian city of Kupiansk, in the Ukrainian region of Kharkiv.
Kharkiv is not among the five regions of Ukraine that Russia claims to have annexed, as its troops were largely pushed out of the region in a successful counteroffensive by Kyiv's forces in 2022.
But Russia's latest statement appears to show it has not abandoned its territorial ambitions in the region.
"Control over Kupiansk will allow for further advances deep into the Kharkiv region, including towards Izium and Chuguiv," the Russian army said in a statement.
AFP was not able to verify Russia's claim.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told journalists last week that Kyiv was still battling for control of the city.
"In the Kupiansk area, intense actions are ongoing, and there are appropriate forces there," he said.
Kupiansk, an important transport hub, was initially captured by Russian forces in the first months of the assault before being retaken by Ukraine.
Reuters/AFP
No comments:
Post a Comment